


don't want a lot for christmas

by madameofmusic



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 03:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madameofmusic/pseuds/madameofmusic
Summary: You asked for Kent/Tater fluff, and I hope I delivered! Merry Christmas :)





	don't want a lot for christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ithinkiloveyoubetternow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ithinkiloveyoubetternow/gifts).



> You asked for Kent/Tater fluff, and I hope I delivered! Merry Christmas :)

Kent landed himself in the hospital on Christmas Eve, and the first thought that crosses his mind when he’s conscious and doped up on enough painkillers to down a horse is _shit, I’m going to miss my flight to Providence._

The Aces, after their sound defeat in bidding for the cup last year (and not even making it _close_ to the finals), had a shit schedule as a result. The week leading up to Christmas had them on a grueling West Coast roadie, ending with their game against the Kings before they got a few days off.

A few days off he _meant_ to spend with Alexei in Providence, curled up by Alexei’s fireplace and binging on terrible Christmas movies and gorging themselves on cookies Alexei had gotten from Bitty and Jack as a Christmas present. Kent had made him _swear_ not to eat them before he got there, and could practically taste the sugar-sweet icing melting on his tongue every time he thought about them.

But then some third string d-man from LA had checked him at just the right angle to break a rib and fracture his left arm, landing him in the hospital for overnight observation, which was, in his opinion, completely unnecessary.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been injured like this before.

He’d been laying in bed for nearly four hours now, annoyed at how frequently the nurses came into take his vitals, and how much of the season they said he’d be missing. Any game was too many, but multiple? He almost felt like screaming.

It was half past two in the morning, and Kent was finally on the verge of uncomfortable sleep when there was a commotion outside. A loud, deep voice seemed to be having an argument with one (or two, he couldn’t tell) of the night nurses. Kent scooted up the bed as much as he could, and lifted it so he could look at the door.

The voice was coming closer, and soon his door was being swung open, despite the loud, ardent protesting of the nurses about visiting hours. A man stood in the doorway, still wrapped in his winter coat, despite the still-warm air of LA’s winter. “Kenny.”

Kent frowned. “Alexei?” He sat up more, until he was properly upright, and gestured at the chair next to him. “The fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Rhode Island.”

The nurses seem to have given up, something Kent attributed to both he and Alexei’s relative fame, and the money they knew Kent had when he’d requested a private room. “Got flight here as soon as possible.” Alexei shrugged off his coat, and plopped down in the chair. “Next time we play Kings, I kill Bruzer.”

Kent snorted, reaching for Alexei’s hand and tangling their hands together. “Uh-huh, and get yourself kicked out of the league for murder? I don’t think so, bud.”

Alexei shrugged. “He hurt my Kenny. Is only fair.”

Kent’s heart fluttered. _My Kenny,_  he thought to himself. Despite their relationship being more than two years old now, things like that still made him a little weak. “How’d you get in?”

“Told the nurses we married, and that I need to see you,” Alexei said, rubbing his thumb across Kent’s knuckles. “Sorry.”

Kent sputtered, cheeks splotched with red. “Did they believe you?”

Alexei grinned, a simple gesture that let Kent knew something devious had happened. He pulled a ring off his finger, and held it up. “Zimmboni let me borrow.” He tapped the side of his head after slipping the rung back on. “I think ahead.”

Kent’s peals of laughter, had the ward not been half empty, would have drawn the night nurse’s ire. As it was, however, the only thing he was hurting were his own ribs. He groaned, and pressed a hand to his side, wincing in pain. “Stop, stop, you can’t make me laugh.”

Alexei leaned closer. “Maybe one day we get real ones though, yeah?”

Kent’s heart shuddered to a stop, and he went speechless. “Uh…?”

Alexei patted his thigh. “Think about it. Not now.”

They’d never talked about marriage, or anything further in the future than that summer’s plans. It was… big. Too big for a hospital room at two in the morning. They’d come back to that.

Alexei leaned back in the chair, hand still intertwined with Kent’s. “You scare me tonight with how you hit the ice. Zimmboni had to stop me from leaving game right away.”

Kent made a mental note to thank Jack later. “Good. You guys are on track for the cup again.”

“So are you,” Alexei said, before frowning. “At least, until tonight. How long you out?”

Kent shrugged his shoulders as much as he could without agitating his injuries. “Dunno. Guess I’ll find out in the morning.”

They sat in silence for a little bit, Alexei seemingly deep in thought, gnawing on his bottom lip as Kent watched him. “When do you fly out?”

“27th,” Alexei responded, letting the legs of his chair hit the floor once more. “Maybe after you get out of hospital, we stay here and rent hotel room?”

Kent nodded. “I was gonna do that anyway. Didn’t want to fly too close to Christmas and have to put up with that many people.”

“Good. I got hotel room on way over, on plane. Also flight back. And present for you in rental car.”

Kent sighed. “I shipped yours to Providence, so I could give it to you there. Sorry.”

Alexei leaned in, pressing a kiss to Kent’s forehead. “Is okay. You are okay, and that’s present for me, too.”

Kent turned his face upwards to meet Alexei’s lips in a gentle kiss. “Sap,” he mumbled, lips curling into a smile as they traded small kisses. “Why don’t you go back to the room, and I’ll take a cab over when I get out of here?”

Alexei shook his head. “I sleep here, drive us both back.”

Kent frowned. “You can’t sleep on the bed, it’s not big enough for both of us.”

“I know,” Alexei said with a snort and a roll of his eyes. “I’ll sleep on this chair. Take a better nap later in hotel bed.”

Kent considered arguing with him, but he didn’t often get Alexei in the same room before late May, much less for a whole night. “Okay. But don’t go bitching about your back in the morning.”

Alexei nodded. “Won’t,” he said, and then leaned in once more to kiss Kent. “Am glad you’re safe,” he mumbled, before pulling back and propping his chair so his feet rested near Kent’s on the bottom of the bed. “Go sleep, so you get healthy.”

Kent tilted the bed back down, and pulled the thin hospital sheet closer to his chin, watching Alexei doze off until he fell asleep, too.

In the end, it wasn’t the Providence Christmas he was hoping for. There wasn’t a fireplace in the hotel room, and Alexei didn’t get his gift until he got back home, but it was good enough.

The next Christmas, Kent got a full week off from hockey, a vacation like the one they’d planned the year before, and a pair of shiny, new rings between them.


End file.
